Speakers

Dave Saunders co-founded Galen Robotics, where he led the team from Johns Hopkins prototype to a $25.5M Series A and FDA De Novo clearance for the world's first cooperatively controlled microsurgical robotic assistant. He managed a 35-patent portfolio licensed from Johns Hopkins, commercializing technology developed in Dr. Russell Taylor's laboratory. Dr. Taylor is widely considered the father of surgical robotics.

Dave's career spans 35 years of building complex technology. At Ascend Communications he named the TAOS operating system that ran on access concentrators connecting millions of people to the early internet. At Bell Labs Skunk Works he worked on the first consumer Wi-Fi hotspot. He contributed to IETF and ITU standards work during the formative years of internet infrastructure.

In 2011 Dave pivoted to surgical robotics. He has since worked with six companies in medical robotics and advanced interventional devices, plus a research partnership with Johns Hopkins.

Today Dave runs Base Reality Group, a fractional executive practice serving founder CEOs and CTOs of surgical robotics and advanced interventional medical device startups. He works inside companies as a fractional CTO, CPO, or CMO. He holds endorsements from Dr. Russell Taylor, Dr. Henry Brem (former Chief of Neurosurgery at Johns Hopkins Hospital), and Dr. Bob Froehlich (former Vice Chair at Deutsche Bank).

Dave is the author of Founders Who Finish, a field manual for entrepreneurs who want to build sustainable companies without the unicorn theater. His companion newsletter goes to founders building in regulated markets.

He lives in Baltimore with his family and continues to work with early-stage surgical robotics and advanced interventional medical device companies.